Sunset Park Relief Coalition

Less than three weeks ago, we established this all-volunteer effort with a call for donations to be delivered to a storefront space we have secured, in our Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn. We have experienced an enormous outpouring of community support. Since we began, we have collected more than 500 tons of non-perishable food, bottled water, and medical, first aid, and personal hygiene supplies. Every day, community volunteers have received, sorted, and packed donations into boxes according to type and weight. We are rapidly filling a 20,000 square foot warehouse with these goods.

Now we need to move these resources to Puerto Rico, into the hands of the people. On the island, our founder, Dennis Flores of El Grito de Sunset Park, in partnership with the National Latino Officers Association, has established a base of operations in Aguadilla, in the western province of the island, where the airport is now open. The team is working there to open up distribution routes, to move the donated goods to residents in the western and central provinces, regions under-served by the current on-island efforts prioritizing the San Juan area.

Your support will be invaluable for ensuring the hundreds of tons of donations Sunset Park Relief Coalition has received do reach these communities in Puerto Rico. We are in need of resources for immediate and longer-term cargo or shipping, specifically:

- IMMEDIATE cargo plane to transport medicine, water, and essential supplies to Aguadilla

- LONGER-TERM support for transport to the island via air or sea, whether as donated services or donated funding toward this purpose

With the support of individuals and private sector businesses we will provide immense benefit to the many people in the western and central provinces who are right now struggling for relief from the devastation the hurricane left behind, and who, in the coming weeks and months, will be working to rebuild their homes and communities.